Watch with a common mechanism for winding the watch and setting the hands thereof



Feb. 4, 1964 G. CAUSSIGNAC 3,120,096

WATCH WITH A COMMON MECHANISM FOR WINDING THE WATCH AND SETTING THE HANDS THEREOF Filed Dec. .16, 1957 INVENTOR.

AIM

United States Patent 3,120,096 WATCH WITH A COMMON MECHANISM FOR WENDING THE WATCH AND SETTING THE HANDS THEREOF Gilbert Caussignac, Villeret, Switzerland Filed Dec. 16, 1957, Ser. No. 703,164 3 Claims. (Cl. 58-63) The present invention relates to watches.

It is conventional in watches to provide a manually turnable shaft used both for winding the watch and for setting the hands thereof, and this shaft has its axis usually extending parallel to the plane of the face of the watch. The shaft fixedly carries at the exterior of the watch a crown which is directly engaged by the operator for turning the shaft, and this shaft is also axially shiftable between a watch winding position and a hand-setting position. Because of the fact that present-day watches are quite thin, the diameter of the crown is quite small, since otherwise it would extend undesirably beyond the face side of the watch as well as the casing side thereof.

It has already been proposed to provide watches with watch-winding shafts which extend perpendicularly to the face of the watch, and such watches have larger crowns. However, these shafts are turnable in only one direction and do not solve the problem because various difficulties arise during winding of the watch with these known mechanisms. In those watches where the winding shaft is turned by the operator extends parallel to the face of the watch the shaft carries driving and driven gears and the driven gear is axially immovable with respect to the manually turnable shaft. This latter driven gear not only participates in the winding of the watch when the manually turnable shaft is in its watch-winding position, but in addition when the shaft is shifted to its hand-setting position the driven gear moves into mesh with the mechanism for setting the hands of the watch. This latter gear arrangement requires a considerable amount of space and therefore is not suitable for a watch where themanually turnable shaft extends perpendicularly to the plane of the face of the watch.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a watch where the manually turnable shaft extends perpendicularly to the plane of the face of the watch and where the shaft is capable of turning in both directions while winding the watch in only one of its directions of rotation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a watch where the manually turnable shaft which extends perpendicularly to the plane of the face of the watch is also axially shiftable between a watch-winding and a hand-setting position and is capable of being used for setting the hands of the watch as well as for winding the watch.

A further object of the present invention is to provide with a manually turnable shaft which extends perpendicularly to the plane of the face of the watch a gear arrangement which does not require too much space so that with the compact gear arrangement it is possible to obtain from the manually turnable shaft all of the functions which previously were obtainable only from a manually turnable shaft which extended parallel to the plane of the face of the watch.

With the above objects in View, the present invention includes in a watch a support means and a manually turnable shaft supported for rotation about its axis by the support means and capable of being turned by the operator, this shaft having its axis extending perpendicularly to the plane of the face of the watch. A driving gear and a driven gear are located on this shaft, and the driving gear is fixed to the shaft so as to be rotatable therewith and so as to be axially immovable with respect thereto,

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while the driven gear is freely shiftable along the axis of the shaft. These gears have faces directed toward each other and at these faces the gears carry a tooth means which transmits rotation from the driving to the driven gear only when the shaft is turned in a predetermined direction.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a watch according to the present invention with the face plate of the watch removed, FIG. 1 showing the watch as seen from above; and

PEG. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken along line 11-11 of FIG. 1.

The watch of the invention has a common mechanism for winding the watch and for setting the hands thereof. For this purpose the watch is provided with a manually turnable shaft 2 which is supported by the support means formed by the plates shown in section in FIG. 2 for rotation about its axis, these plates which are shown in section in FIG. 2 serving as the support means for the entire watch mechanism and being formed with aligned openings which receive the shaft 2, as is indicated in FIG. 2. The axis of the manually turnable shaft 2 extends perpendicularly to the plane of the face of the watch. It should be noted that the face of the watch is located above the mechanism shown in FIG. 1, while in FIG. 2 the structure has been inverted so that the face of the watch is located along the bottom of the structure shown in FIG. 2.

The shaft 2 is supported by the support means not only for rotation but also for axial shifting movement, between a watch-winding and a hand-setting position, and the shaft 2 is shown in FIG. 2 in its watch-winding position. The shaft 2 is shifted upwardly from the position shown in FIG. 2 in order to be placed in its hand-setting position.

The shaft 2 carries a driving gear 4, and also a driven gear 3 is located on the shaft 2. The driving gear 4 is fixed to the shaft 2 so as to be immovable with respect thereto not only in rotation but also axially, while the driven gear 3 is axially shiftable with respect to the shaft 2. At the faces of the gears 3 and 4 which are directed toward each other, these gears carry a tooth means 11 in the nature of 'annularly arranged ratchet teeth of known construction which transmit rotation from the gear 4 to the gear 3 only when the shaft 2 and the gear 4 are turned in a given direction by the operator. The gear 3 meshes with a gear 5 which transmits the drive to the barrel of the watch. The shaft 2 has a portion extending to the exterior of the watch at the casing side thereof, which is opposite from the face side thereof, and at this free end portion of the shaft 2 the latter fixedly carries a winding crown 1 adapted to be engaged by the operator for turning the shaft 2 in order to wind the watch when the shaft 2 has the position shown in FIG. 2, and the operator also engages the crown 1 for axially shifting the shaft 2 to its hand-setting position and for turning the shaft 2 to set the hands of the Watch, as well as for moving the shaft 2 back to its watch-winding position. The diameter of the crown 1 is large enough so that the crown 1 has an outer peripheral portion extending beyond the outer periphery of the watch housing, as is evident from FIG. 1, and in this way the periphery of the crown 1 is easily accessible to the operator.

When the crown 1 is turned in a direction opposite to the winding direction, then the tooth means 11 simply provides a riding of the teeth of the gear 4 on the teeth of the gear 3 without turning the driven gear 3 and the latter does not rotate about its axis and the gear 5 also is not turned. The driven gear 3 is urged against the driving gear 4 so as to cooperate properly therewith by a suitable spring means, and this spring means takes the form of a leaf spring 6 which is carried by the support means and which extends about the shaft 2 and engages the face of the gear 3 opposite from the gear 4 to urge the gear 3 axially toward the gear 4. A small bridge '7 is fixedly carried by the support means and guarantees that the gear 3 is maintained in the plane of the gear 5.

In order to set the hands of the watch, the crown is raised so as to shift the shaft 2 into a position which places a watch-setting gear 9 fixed to the shaft 2 in mesh with a gear of a gear train which sets the hands of the watch. A wire spring 8 is carried by the support means and extends into an annular groove of the shaft 2 which s has an inner annular face of V-shaped cross section, as shown in FIG. 2, so that the spring 8 forms a spring means which will releasably maintain the shaft 2 in either of its axial positions. When the shaft 2 is shifted upwardly, as viewed in FIG. 2, to its hand-setting position, so that the gear 9 fixed to the shaft 2 meshes with the gear It), then the turning of the shaft 2 turns the gear 9 which in turn drives the gear 10, and the gear 10 actuates the gear train 14, 15, 19, so as to turn the hand carrying shaft 20 (FIG. 1).

The bridge 16 is fixed to the support means with a screw member 12 and serves to carry the shaft which supports the gear 10 for rotation, and also the bridge 16 receives the pins 13, 17, and 18.

The crown 1 is turnable with the shaft 2 in both directions but will only wind the watch when the shaft 2 is in its watch-winding position and when the shaft 2 and crown 1 are turned in a predetermined direction, while the possibility of turning the crown 1 and the shaft 2 in the opposite direction allows when winding up to make a back and forth movement of the crown, which renders the W111d ing easier and which maintains the watch mechanism in good condition.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of watches differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in manually windable watches, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a watch having a casing side and a watch housing, in combination, support means; a manually turnable shaft supported for rotation about its axis by said support means and capable of being turned by the operator for winding the watch and for setting the hands thereof, the axis of said shaft extending perpendicularly to the plane of the face of the watch; driving and driven gears located on said shaft and being coaxial therewith, said driving and driven gears being located beside each other and those faces of said driving and driven gears which are directed toward each other carrying a tooth means which transmits rotation of the driving gear to the driven gear only when said shaft and driving gear are turned in one direction, said driving gear being fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith and being axially immovable with respect thereto and said driven gear being axially shiftable along said shaft and with respect to said support means, said support means engaging said driven gear and limiting the movement thereof toward said driving gear; means cooperating with said shaft for maintaining the same axially stationary during turning of said shaft in either direction about its axis when the operator winds the watch; a crown fixed to said shaft and adapted to be engaged by the operator for turning said shaft, said crown being located at the casing side of the watch and having an outer peripheral portion which extends beyond the outer periphery of the watch housing; and spring means carried by said support means and engaging said driven gear for urging the same toward said driving gear, said spring means providing yielding movement of said driven gear axially along said shaft back and forth toward said driving gear when said shaft is turned in one direction while the operator winds the watch.

2. In a watch having a casing side and a watch housing, in combination, support means; a manually turnable shaft supported for rotation about its axis by said support means and also supported by said support means for axial shifting movement between a watch winding position and a hand-setting position, the axis of said shaft extending perpendicularly to the plane of the face of the watch; rst spring means cooperating with said shaft for releasably holding the latter axially stationary in one or the other of its axial positions; a driving gear fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith and being axially immovable with respect thereto; a driven gear located on said shaft and being axially movable with respect thereto, said driving and driven gears having side faces directed toward each other; tooth means located at said side faces of said driving and driven gears for transmitting a drive from said driving to said driven gear when said shaft is in said watch winding position only when said shaft is turned in a predetermined direction; second spring means weaker than said first spring means carried by said support means and urging said driven gear toward said driving gear, said support means limiting the movement of said driven gear toward said driving gear; and a crown fixed to said shaft at the exterior of the watch at the casing side thereof so that said crown may be engaged by the operator for turning said shaft and for shifting said shaft axially between its positions, said crown having an outer peripheral portion which extends beyond the outer periphery of the housing of the watch.

3. In a watch as recited in claim 2, said first spring means including a portion of said shaft formed with an annular groove, and the part of said shaft which is surrounded by said groove having a pair of portions respectively extending from the ends of said groove toward each other and gradually increasing in diameter from the ends of said groove toward the center thereof, said pair of shaft portions in said groove intersecting each other substantially midway between the ends of said groove to form a crest between said pair of shaft portions, and said first spring means including an axially stationary spring extending into said groove and pressing against said shaft portions so that said shaft need only be moved to a relatively slight distance in one axial direction or the other to shift said crest to one or the other side of said spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,643,630 Rodanet Sept. 27, 1927 1,845,440 Piquet Feb. 16, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 117,392 Switzerland Ian. 17, 1927 158,577 Switzerland Mar. 1, 1933 202,903 Switzerland May 1, 1939 238,871 Switzerland Dec. 3, 1945 

1. IN A WATCH HAVING A CASING SIDE AND A WATCH HOUSING, IN COMBINATION, SUPPORT MEANS; A MANUALLY TURNABLE SHAFT SUPPORTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT ITS AXIS BY SAID SUPPORT MEANS AND CAPABLE OF BEING TURNED BY THE OPERATOR FOR WINDING THE WATCH AND FOR SETTING THE HANDS THEREOF, THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT EXTENDING PERPENDICULARLY TO THE PLANE OF THE FACE OF THE WATCH; DRIVING AND DRIVEN GEARS LOCATED ON SAID SHAFT AND BEING COAXIAL THEREWITH, SAID DRIVING AND DRIVEN GEARS BEING LOCATED BESIDE EACH OTHER AND THOSE FACES OF SAID DRIVING AND DRIVEN GEARS WHICH ARE DIRECTED TOWARD EACH OTHER CARRYING A TOOTH MEANS WHICH TRANSMITS ROTATION OF THE DRIVING GEAR TO THE DRIVEN GEAR ONLY WHEN SAID SHAFT AND DRIVING GEAR ARE TURNED IN ONE DIRECTION, SAID DRIVING GEAR BEING FIXED TO SAID SHAFT FOR ROTATION THEREWITH AND BEING AXIALLY IMMOVABLE WITH RESPECT THERETO AND SAID DRIVEN GEAR BEING AXIALLY SHIFTABLE ALONG SAID SHAFT AND WITH RESPECT TO SAID SUPPORT MEANS, SAID SUPPORT MEANS ENGAGING SAID DRIVEN GEAR AND LIMITING THE MOVEMENT THEREOF TOWARD SAID DRIVING GEAR; MEANS COOPERATING WITH SAID SHAFT FOR MAINTAINING THE SAME AXIALLY STATIONARY DURING TURNING OF SAID SHAFT IN EITHER DIRECTION ABOUT ITS AXIS WHEN THE OPERATOR WINDS THE WATCH; A CROWN FIXED TO SAID SHAFT AND ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED BY THE OPERATOR FOR TURNING SAID SHAFT, SAID CROWN BEING LOCATED AT THE CASING SIDE OF THE WATCH AND HAVING AN OUTER PERIPHERAL PORTION WHICH EXTENDS BEYOND THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF THE WATCH HOUSING; AND SPRING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORT MEANS AND ENGAGING SAID DRIVEN GEAR FOR URGING THE SAME TOWARD SAID DRIVING GEAR, SAID SPRING MEANS PROVIDING YIELDING MOVEMENT OF SAID DRIVEN GEAR AXIALLY ALONG SAID SHAFT BACK AND FORTH TOWARD SAID DRIVING GEAR WHEN SAID SHAFT IS TURNED IN ONE DIRECTION WHILE THE OPERATOR WINDS THE WATCH. 